Guilford County Teachers Shop For Free At Teacher Supply Warehouse

Teachers spend nearly $1,000 of their own money on school supplies each year.

Author:
WFMY News 2 Digital

Published:
4:37 AM EDT August 12, 2019

Updated:
1:41 PM EDT August 12, 2019

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Back-To-School shopping is in full swing.

According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in elementary school through high school plan to spend an average $696.70.

That's up from $684.79 last year.

Families with college students are expected to spend an average $976.78, which is up from last year's $942.17.

If you combine the planned spending for back-to-school and back-to-school college shoppers, you'll get a whopping $80.7 billion.

It's no secret, back-to-school shopping is expensive for parents and students.

But, According to the Guilford Education Alliance, teachers spend an average of nearly $1,000 of their own money on school supplies each year too.

On Monday, August 12 and Tuesday, August 13, the Guilford Education Alliance's Teacher Supply Warehouse will be open to new GCS teachers only.

It's an opportunity for first-year teachers to stock their classrooms free of cost and begin their teaching careers with GCS ready to greet students on the first day of class.

Supplies in the warehouse are made possible through community donations of new and gently used supplies and money, along with community partnerships.

"We are grateful that these professionals have chosen to teach in Guilford County and we want them to know that they are valued," said Karen Hornfeck with Guilford Education Alliance. "One way to do that is to help them off-set the financial burden of stocking their new classrooms by offering them special shopping times at the warehouse. Because of the generosity of our donors, teachers can stock up on the most-needed supplies at no-cost."

GEA indicated that more than 3,000 shopping visits from GCS teachers were made in the 2018-2019 school year, including visits from more than 600 new teachers.

Guilford Education Alliance is an independent nonprofit that galvanizes the community in support of quality public education for all students.

On both August 12 and 13, the warehouse will be open from 10:15 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.